This book is the culmination of my work on Islam and Muslim politics. I have drawn on my work and experiences over several decades, begun at a time when Islam was relatively invisible on our cognitive and demographic map in the West. Today, it is hard for many of us to appreciate that only a few short decades ago, this book would have been unthinkable.

In this period of transition, links between Muslims of West and East are essential. What I mean exactly by the idea of “independence” is that Western citizens of the Muslim faith must think for themselves, develop theses appropriate to their situation, and put forward new and concrete ideas.

The point of this book is not to set out a systematic program for reform but to identify and delineate the reality of Muslim thought as it currently exists. Before we can speak 5 Introduction about the need for reform it is imperative that we first get a firm handle on the current Muslim condition and seek to understand the world of ideas that chart the divides within the Muslim mind.

SOUL AND IT’S POTENTIAL RELIGIOSITY Although humans have the privilege before the rational soul and the mind’s eye, especially to know the things unseen dimension of divinity, al-Ghazali considered that these two things are so sensitive nature of fuzzy and blindness. Al-Ghazali seems to indicate that the weaknesses of humanRead the Rest…

In Sufism, the human is seen as a mirror of God in the sense that man is the most appropriate container and perfect for appeared His names. Under this paradigm, then it becomes human nature and it should be capable of transmitting the essence of God, where there is aRead the Rest…

By: Abdurrahman Wahid In al-Quran mentioned: “you come into Islam (peace) in full (udkhulû fi al-silmi Kaffah)” (Surah alBaqarah [2]: 208). Herein lies a fundamental difference of opinion among the Muslims. If the word “al-silmi” translates to the word Islam itself there should be a formal Islamic entity, with the necessityRead the Rest…